Happy Endings for the Adult in You
by Joey Penn
Summary: Severus comes across two children who are all too familiar and he discovers that Happy Endings aren't necessarily made from Fairy tales. One-Shot


**Happy Endings for the Adult in You**

Severus watched the little boy with a magnetic kind of intrigue; try as he might he could just not bring himself to look away. The little boy had a certain sort of power over him. He was small and quiet and seemed quite sweet in holding the little girl's hand and patting her hair.

Severus was sitting in a muggle café; he was just passing through a tiny village in Cornwall known as The Lizard. Well passing through was not exactly the right word. Severus was sent here, by Minerva to 'have a break' as she had put it. He didn't see why she would be under the assumption that he would need a break, especially not in the most southerly point in bloody England. But, even he could not deny it was absolutely beautiful here, the cliffs and the sea. It was beautiful, and peaceful and he could see himself being very calm here, but calm was not what Severus wanted to be, he wanted to shout and terrify the pants off of eleven year old children, not settle into a life of pleasant views and small town concerns.

In any case Severus had just arrived, just checked into the pub and was now sitting in the restaurant, sipping his fortifying coffee and waiting for his late lunch to arrive. The little boy was standing just on the outside of the restaurant's seating. There was a patio where more tables were situated, it was here that Severus sat and it was here that the little boy stood, where the little girl held his hand firmly and babbled nonsense while the little boy just gave her a soft smile. There was something about this little boy that was just so calming and peaceful, it was like an aura that Severus couldn't help but feed off of.

The little's boy's hair was a honey coloured brown and his skin sun-kissed, Severus could not see the child's face but knew that he had to be one of those adorable little children that brought out the maternal instincts in the very harshest of women. The little girl was very similar, in appearances, her face however Severus could see and he couldn't help but feel it was somehow vaguely familiar. There was something in the line of the jaw and chin and the little nose. Her eyes were big and soft blue. If her older brother looked anything like the young toddler they must have had very handsome parents indeed.

That was a question. The parents; just where were the parents. The children were obviously quite well behaved but honestly to leave a little boy of no more than four or five and little girl of two on an open patio that led out onto the street was just asking for trouble. True, the community was tiny and really every local knew the other and these children were obviously local because all random passer-by would stop and pat the little boy's head, give him a large smile and then kiss the little girl's cheek. No words would be passed but there was a familiarity in the action. But what if some stranger just happened by and abducted the children. It really was quite foolish to leave them so unattended and unsupervised.

The little boy, as if sensing Severus' scrutiny turned to face him then. His face echoed his sister's but it was even more familiar to Severus than the female version had been, but the boy's eyes instead of the soft blue of his sister's was bright emerald green and it made Severus catch his breath. He knew those eyes, knew them like no one else ever could. They'd been his childhood friend, confidant and later heart-breaker. They'd been his adulthood nemesis, then begrudging companion and then in the end only true love and happiness to be ripped away from him when he could no longer pretend that he could be what those eyes needed. Those eyes had begged and pleaded and Severus had refused to listen, had thrown them out because Severus knew that he didn't measure up and could not face the inevitable; when those eyes would finally realise as well that Severus was simply not good enough and then threw Severus out.

The little boy stared blankly at Severus, as if trying to understand, and then a tiny frown line appeared between those two hauntingly painful orbs, and no matter how cute the action Severus felt nothing but the ripping of his heart. The eyes seemed to understand something then and Severus was bowled over with the compassion he saw in those eyes, it was heart-wrenching. The boy seemed on the verge of tears; the boy knew, knew that Severus was in pain and it looked as if the boy was willing to do anything to alleviate that pain.

The little boy, seemingly unaware of his actions, moved towards Severus, gently pulling his baby sister along with him. When the boy reached the frozen Severus, he reached up with one tiny hand and cupped Severus' cheek, his thumb rubbing soothingly against his cheekbone. The boy's eyes were so expressive and emphatic that they alone made Severus almost want to cry. The boy was trying to soothe his hurt the best that he knew how.

Severus could not help but close his eyes and pat the boy's hand, silently thanking him for his care and compassion.

"Peyton!" A voice called that Severus knew all too well. A voice that froze him to his seat; a voice that he had not heard in seven years; a voice that made his heart leap into his stomach and his stomach jump into his throat, Severus choked on the uninvited intruder.

"Peyton!" That voice called again. It was a soft, almost playful sort of calling. Severus opened his eyes to see the little toddler trying to move away, trying to pull her brother with her; trying to go back into the restaurant but the boy would not budge.

"Allie! Allie!" She begged, but it was futile. The boy only moved so that his hand no longer rested on Severus' cheek but he still stood before Severus as if the caress of his eyes would be enough to soothe the once thought buried ache that now resounded throughout Severus' being.

"Peyton!" The voice was coming closer and Severus turned to see someone coming around the corner, from up the stairs. The person rounded the corner with a large smile on his face as he playfully called, "Peyton!" once again.

Severus could no long breathe. It was him, it was really him. He stood there, beautiful in his jet black hair, emerald eyes, sun-kissed skin, well-muscled body if only average heighted. Severus couldn't breathe as the being that held his heart so firmly was completely oblivious to him and only watched, beaming, as the little girl toddled over, unassisted to him.

"Daddy! Daddy!" The little girl called back and the man scooped her up and laughed as he snuggled her neck, making her giggle. "Allie!" The little girl eventually gasped out between giggles and pointed to the still motionless little boy, who seemed to be completely unaware of what was occurring around him.

The man, still smiling, followed her finger to the little boy and his smiled immediately slid off his face as he stared, dumb-struck at Severus. No one moved for a good minute until Peyton started wriggling to be set free by her father.

Harry obliged and placed his child on the floor, gently. She ran to the boy that Severus assumed was Allie and pulled on his hand again.  
>"It's alright Peyton." Harry said, softly, as he moved out of the restaurant and onto the patio. "Severus." He said simply.<p>

Not knowing what else to do, Severus simply nodded.

"Why are you here?" Harry came and stood behind Allie, and placed a hand on the messy honey locks. The boy glanced up, gave his father a concerned smile and then looked back to Severus.

"I'm on holiday. I did not know you lived here. Minerva sent me." Severus managed to croak out.

Allie moved forward again and patted Severus' cheek. Harry just watched; a frown on his face.

"Oh, a coincidence then." He said, no emotion behind it.

"It would seem so." Severus responded.

There was an awkward silence for a moment. "It would seem you have met my children, Alex and Peyton."

"Yes. They seemed unattended." Severus watched Alex pat the confused little girl's hand, reassuringly.

Harry frowned. "No, no, Jesse was keeping an eye on them while I checked on Mrs Gordon. She's sick, as the elderly seem to usually be, especially in this season." He spoke almost absently.

"Indeed. You are a healer?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"No. Well, sort of. I'm a muggle doctor."

"Oh. I see." Severus looked away, down the street.

"Do you?" Harry seemed genuinely intrigued by that prospect.

"Of course, you've gone muggle; integrated yourself into a society that does not understand any kind of notoriety about your name." Severus looked back up at the younger man before him.

Harry let out a puff of air. "It would seem that you do understand. Peyton." Harry opened his arms and the little girl clambered into them, she sat on his hip and rested her head on his shoulder, almost immediately closing her eyes. "We have to go. Perhaps, if you wanted to catch up you could come over tonight. I live at Church Cove. It's the old Lifeboat Station. I converted it. If you're interested just ask Jesse and she'll give you directions."

Harry patted the boy's head that his hand was still resting on. The boy looked at him and Harry nodded down the street and said, "It's time to go." The little boy nodded and obediently took his father's hand. Harry walked down the street, and out of sight of the very dumbfounded potions master.

* * *

><p>"I went back, you know?" Harry said, absently, he was clearing the table from what appeared to have been a very messy dinner.<p>

Severus looked up from the glass of wine Harry had handed him as soon as he had sat down at the kitchen table. Severus had made sure to come late enough to ensure that Harry's children were asleep, it was just past eight.

"Excuse me?" Severus frowned in confusion. And suddenly Harry's busy-ness seemed less of a necessary chore and more of a means of distraction. Harry would not look at him, but moved the last of the dishes into the sink and began scrubbing a pan.

"When I found out, when I found out that you were alive – I went back." Harry spoke so quietly that Severus could barely hear him over the scrubbing, be hear him he did and he couldn't help but let out a whoosh of air filled with impossible things such as guilt and grief and loneliness.

"I'm sorry." Severus muttered.

The scrubbing stopped abruptly and Severus looked over, Harry was gripping the edge of the sink so tightly his knuckles were white. "I didn't see you though." Severus continued.

Harry was still for a moment and then he sighed and continued scrubbing, with a shrug he said, "I didn't want you to see me. It was obvious by that point that you didn't want me anymore, and besides I had a life already. Allie was born and Peyton wasn't far off. I just needed to see you, one last time, say goodbye. And now… well, now, here you are." Harry rinsed the pan and put it in the drying rack, moving on to the last of the dishes.

"Don't say that." Severus said quietly, his hand fondling the stem of the wineglass, the wine still untouched.

"What?" Harry put a handful of cutlery in the rack and emptied the sink.

"Don't say that I didn't want you, I always wanted you. Always." Severus wouldn't look up to meet Harry's eyes but he knew that Harry had frozen in the middle of the kitchen on his way back to the table to wipe it down.

The kitchen was completely silent until Harry said in what was supposedly a quiet voice but sounded like yelling in the quiet of the kitchen, even the noise of the sea was conspicuously absent, "Then, why?"

"I had too. Harry I loved you, love you, and I was holding you back. No wait - " Severus put up a hand to forestall Harry's comments. "No, I do not doubt that you loved me, in fact that was the reason why I allowed you to believe I was dead. You loved me, and you would have never left me, but I couldn't have ever given you what you wanted. I couldn't have given you the children you so desired or the kind of life you wanted. There may not be much said for me or my character but I do do the best I can for those I love. I let you go Harry, because I knew you wouldn't find the happiness that you were entitled too with me." Severus still wouldn't look up at Harry but he knew Harry hadn't moved and probably had a frown of concentration.

"And what about your happiness?" Harry said his voice steady and soft.

"Mine is irrelevant to yours, but rest assured that I have found the peace that I've always desired and I'm happy in the knowledge that my life was not a waste and that I was strong enough to give you what you needed."

Harry sighed, but didn't say anything and Severus couldn't help but be relieved. Harry continued to clean the kitchen.

Ten minutes later they were both sitting at the table. "Allie, he's deaf." Harry said suddenly.

Severus was shocked, but realised it made sense with how he'd seen the child react to people. "He was about two when he just stopped listening and talking and we didn't know what was wrong. We took him to the doctor and they couldn't figure it out. We took him to a Healer, and they couldn't understand it either. There is no reason for it, but, my son is disabled and I've never felt quite so helpless in my life. Val, she took it hard, suddenly her son wasn't the little bright vivacious boy anymore, but she adapted quickly – that maternal instinct kicking in. I didn't. Only recently have I really accepted it."

They were silent some more and Severus wondered why Harry was blurting this all out to him. "She's sick, you know, Val. Cancer, in her breasts. Healers can't do anything because she's a muggle and the doctors don't have a cure for her. She was diagnosed while she was pregnant with Peyton, just a few days after I came back from seeing you. Val refused treatment. She had her breasts removed but she wouldn't undergo therapy, it would have aborted the pregnancy. By the time Peyton had been born the cancer had spread. Now, Peyton's here and Val's still not getting better. For a while there the cancer had receded completely but it came back, it came back much stronger."

Severus was horrified; Harry was speaking quietly but his voice was filled with pain and grief and Severus couldn't think but to regret his assumption that Harry had had the happy life that Severus had wanted for him.

"I love her Severus, and I love my children. I also love you, but I wouldn't give them up for the world. Val is very different from you, she's bright and beautiful and she's charming and vivacious and so open. And I love her differently. My family is my everything, and I'm not telling you about our tragedies so that you'd feel bad for pushing me away but to tell you thank you. Thank you for letting me have this, I wouldn't ever regret any of this for the world. My wife and my children are worth any heartache, and I thank you for allowing me to have them."

Severus frowned, bemused, Harry caught the look and gave Severus a half smile.

"I suppose you don't understand; these tragedies have given me more than a lifetime full of happiness could have ever given me. I found out what it really means to love, be loved and to care for people who matter to you and have them care for you in return. Those first years of our marriage I was a terrible insomniac, from the war and well, everything. But Val, she helped me, she loved me and she took care of me. My tragedy is no tragedy, its freedom and life and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I was a child I dreamt of a happy ending, now, as an adult I dream of loving my family through anything and forever, no matter what comes. You pushing me away was a gift, one that I wouldn't have allowed you to bestow upon me at the time but one that I'm more grateful for now than I have ever been for anything." Harry's eyes carried the weight of wisdom in them as they implored Severus to listen and understand, and Severus did.

He really did; he had made the right decision, Harry had found happiness but more importantly he'd found contentedness, and that was a gift that Severus had never thought it possible to bestow.


End file.
